Kiss the Pony
by Oscar-Wilde-Inspired
Summary: After a hit Murphy and Connor end up with a three old girl who was witness to a mob hit. As the little girl starts changing their lives they begin to wonder what more there is to life. Murphy/Connor. Better summary inside. Rated R
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Kiss the Pony

**Fandom:** Boondock Saints

**Pairings:** Connor/Murphy

**Rating:** R

**Warnings:** Violence, swearing, angst, twincest, incest, kid!fic

**Summary:** During one of their hits the McManus brothers discover a three old girl hiding under a bed. After learning that the girl is on a hit list, an order from the very man they had just murdered, they take the girl with them. But they soon discover that someone else wants this girl dead and they are far more dangerous than the McManus brothers could've possibly imagined. Along the way the very fabric of their relationship is tested and the brothers discover something that had been lurking at edge of their vision for years.

The guy had been fairly easy to whack Connor and Murphy had both been surprised at the lack of guards around the place and around the guy himself. It had only taken a few minutes to get into the house and find the guy. Before the alarm had even tripped the guy that they had been after was laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"You know I'm kind of surprised there ain't more guards." Connor said as he put the pennies over the Mafia Don's eyes as Murphy crossed the guy's arms.

"Yeah" Murphy agreed standing up and wiping his gloved hands across his pants "you'd think with a guy this important they'd be swarming his ass."

"Hmm…oh well makes it easier for us" Connor shrugged it off as he stood up beside Murphy looking down at their latest hit. Murphy agreed silently nodding his head. In the moment a small whimper echoed from under the bed. Simultaneously both of them jerked out their guns from where they had been tucked into the back of their pants and aimed it at the bed.

"Go look and see what it is" Connor instructed Murphy.

"Fuck you" Murphy whispered back "why don't you go see for yourself?"

Connor gave him an impatient look and hit him in the shoulder "Because I told you first that's why." Murphy shot him a pissed off look as he dropped to his knees in front of the bed and reached for the blankets. Pausing he looked back up at Connor "Oh don't be such a pussy Murph" Connor said motioning for him to continue on. Murphy gave him the finger but grabbed the blankets none the less. Grabbing a handful of them Murphy jerked them up shoving the barrel of his gun under the bed first then his head.

Backed up against the far side of the bed with a sheer look of terror on her face as she stared at the gun was a small trembling child that looked no older than three years old. "Shit Connor it's a kid" Murphy hurriedly dumping his gun on the bed.

"What?" Connor asked in disbelief as he got down on the floor beside Murphy. "Holy shit it is" Connor said as he looked at the trembling girl. She wore only a flimsy pink nightgown her hair was all mated and her face dirty with streaks from crying. "This guy doesn't have kids…we made sure of that."

"I know" Murphy said back getting down on his stomach "this must be someone else's kid." Murphy tried to pull himself under the bed but he was just a bit too big to slide under it, if he was going to get the kid she'd have to come to him. "Hey sweetie" Murphy called out to her softly, ignoring Connor's look of confusion. "We're not going to hurt you we promise we just want to make sure you're alright." The girl looked at him disbelief a look that was too old to be on her young face.

Connor who was on his stomach beside him called out as well "We're not bad men, we just want to get you back your parents."

At the mention of the parents word the girl jerked backwards as her bottom lip started trembling "Look what you did Connor" Murphy scolded Connor and hitting him in the shoulder "Now she's going to cry."

"Whatever" Connor threw back hitting Murphy hard in the shoulder in return. They had been too busy to see the little girl crawl a bit closer when Murphy hit Connor back the little girl laughed. When Connor and Murphy looked back at the girl she was a few feet away at arm length, she lay there on her stomach staring at Murphy and Connor with a grin on her still tear soaked face.

"She likes it when we hit each other" Murphy commented before he slammed his fist into Connor's shoulder who let out a small ow before doing the same to Murphy. Giggling the little girl clapped her hands and drew herself closer. Smiling at the girl Murphy held his hand out to her "You wanna come out from underneath the bed sweetie?" At first the girl looked hesitantly at the two men before nodding her soft black curls bouncing around her face. Taking Murphy's hand the little girl allowed Murphy to pull out from under the bed and up onto his hip.

As soon as she was out from under the bed the little girls eyes fell on the man sprawled out on his back. Slamming shut her eyes she buried her face in Murphy's shoulder "Bad man" she cried out her finger blindingly pointing to the dead man. "He bad man!" she insisted again her arm and legs wrapping as tight as she possibly could around Murphy.

"Let's get her out of this room" Connor said leading the way as Murphy nodded his arm wrapped around the little girl who was still clinging to him like her life depended on him holding her up.

The went into the next room, which was huge, with a large oak desk filled with papers and a bottle of what looked like expensive scotch sitting at the edge of the table the lid off it and sitting carelessly on the table. Even though they were out of sight of the dead man the girl still clang to Murphy who did his best to calm her down.

"Don't worry the bad man is gone" Murphy told her rubbing her back softly "He can't hurt you."

"Bad man hurt daddy" the girl said tears running down her cheeks as she pulled back from Murphy's shoulder. "Bad man made daddy and mommy bleed."

"Shit" Connor said under his breath.

"Well the bad man is gone" Murphy told her softly.

"No" she said shaking his head furiously her black curls flying everywhere "bad man in there." She said pointing to the wall that lead to the next room where the said man was laying dead on the floor.

"No no sweetie" Murphy said trying to explain to the girl the guy was dead without coming right and saying it. "He's gone…he's…"

"He's dead" Connor stated bluntly which earned him a stern look from Murphy which Connor ignored as he looked the little girl in the eyes. The little girl stared back at him her eyes wide as he explained to her "the bad man is dad me and Murphy we killed him. He'll never hurt anyone ever again."

The girl wide eyed looked at Murphy and Connor then at the wall "Bad man dead?"

"Yes" Murphy said nodding slightly stunned that the girl understood what Connor had told her. He wasn't exactly an expert in child care but he was pretty sure a three year old wasn't supposed to know what death was.

Sighing as if the explanation had taken all of his energy out of him Connor collapsed in the chair behind the large desk. Something peeking out from underneath a pile of paper caught his attention. Pulling out the photo of an awfully familiar child Connor's blood ran cold. In large red letters the name Mary was written out on the bottom of the photo. "Murphy" Connor said weakly holding up the picture for Murphy to see. At the site of it Murphy's face went white and his grip on the girl tightened. "She has a hit out on her" Connor barely whispered. His eyes glued to the red letters, something that Connor and Murphy had picked up along the way was if a person had their name written in red on their photo it meant they had a hit out on them. A tradition borrowed from the original Sicilian mobsters who used to send death threats out with the intended victims name singed in blood.

"Shit" Murphy whispered his eyes searching the room for other people, for the sign that they weren't alone. "What are we gonna do with her?"

"I don't know" Connor whispered furiously back. "We can't just leave her here."

"No shit" Murphy said back, the little girl was looking curiously between the two her eyes squinting slightly as if she just understood what they were talking about. Murphy sighed and looked over at Connor his decision already made, Connor knew what it was before Murphy even spoke. "We have to take her with us. I mean the cops can't keep her safe, you know how corrupt that place is she'll be dead within the week."

"I know Murph…but it's a kid…I mean look at how we live…is it really that safe for her?"

Pissed Murphy snarled back "So it's better to leave her here to let those people do whatever they want to her? How is that better then taking her with us?"

"I know I know" Connor said holding his hands up in defense. Once again he sighed and stood up putting the photo face down on the desk not wanting to look at the sickening sight anymore. "Kay we'll take her with us…but as soon as we figure this shit out she's gone. You got that?" Connor more stated then asked his finger pointing sternly at Murphy. "We ain't fit to care for a child."

"Yeah" Murphy agreed weakly still holding onto the girl. "Fine…let's get out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Kiss the Pony

**Fandom:** Boondock Saints

**Pairings:** Connor/Murphy

**Rating:** R

**Warnings:** Violence, swearing, angst, twincest, incest, kid!fic

**Summary:** During one of their hits the McManus brothers discover a three old girl hiding under a bed. After learning that the girl is on a hit list, an order from the very man they had just murdered, they take the girl with them. But they soon discover that someone else wants this girl dead and they are far more dangerous than the McManus brothers could've possibly imagined. Along the way the very fabric of their relationship is tested and the brothers discover something that had been lurking at edge of their vision for years.

AN: Wow it's been a long time since I've written for this story. I am so sorry about that. I started a Big Bang contest on LJ and that has absorbed all of my attention right now. Don't worry though this story will continue. Slowly albeit but it shall continue.

Connor searched frantically for Murphy, fear ebbing into his panic as he couldn't find his brother. The small loft that they lived in was in shambles their mattresses up against the wall, papers and clothes strewn everywhere. Connor was just about to start screaming when a small sound caught his attention.

"Connor…" it was Murphy's voice, soft and pleading. "Connor please help." It was coming from behind the mattresses that had been set against the wall.

Running over the mattress Connor ripped them away from the wall. Lying on his back with his arms spread eagle was his twin brother.

"What happened?" Connor asked breathless as he took in the sight before him.

Thick red globs were smeared all over Murphy's face, his eyes were covered in blue and pink, and his hair….his hair was a mess of berets and glitter. "I told Mary we could play house." As Connor looked closer he could see the red globs that covered Murphy's mouth and chin was lipstick and the pink and blue stuff all around his eyes was eye shadow. Connor didn't even know they had makeup in their place. Mary was sitting beside him holding a tube a red lipstick and a small case of glitter. She looked positively gleeful at the fact that Murphy had allowed her to cover him in makeup.

"The loft is destroyed" Connor pointed out as he walked back to the door where he had dropped the bag of clothes and groceries when he had stepped inside and seen the state of their place.

Rolling onto his stomach Murphy pushed himself up, Mary quickly dropped the items she was holding and stood up next to him. Connor had noticed over the last three days that Mary had taken an almost instant liking to Murphy. Sure she wasn't above sitting next to Connor and letting him tell her a bedtime story. Something that Murphy had insisted that they do because that's what their mother had done for them. But she always stayed closely to Murphy's side.

"We got a little carried away" Murphy shrugged as he itched his cheek which only served to smear that lipstick even more.

"A little carried away would be getting some marker on the ground or leaving paper lying around. A little carried away is not destroying the entire loft and making it look like someone had broken in and tried to murder you!" Connor hadn't realized that he was yelling until he saw Mary flinch and hide behind Murphy who was staring at him with a pissed off look. To be honest though it was hard to take Murphy's anger seriously when he still had makeup smeared all over his face and his hair stuck out in random tuffs from the pink berets in his hair.

"I'll clean up the loft" Murphy said back his voice tight as he put a protective hand on Mary's shoulder.

Sighing Connor turned back to the table, the only place that hadn't been touched by the whirlwind that was Murphy and Mary. "No it's fine…I'll clean it up.

"No" Murphy stated bluntly "It was my mess I'll do it."

Connor could feel anger starting to thrum through his chest towards Murphy. Why couldn't the stubborn little…

Connor's internal rant was cut short by Mary's soft voice "Please don't be mad…I'll clean it up." All the anger, the frustration, everything that he had tying up Connor's head for the last three days melted at the horribly sad sound in Mary's voice.

Turning to look at her and Murphy who looked just as upset over Mary's plea as Connor felt, Connor sighed "No…you know what sweet heart why don't we just leave it be for now. How about instead we see what I bought for you?"

Mary's face light up at the mention of the items Connor had purchased for her, slinking out from behind Murphy Mary eagerly ran over to the chair next to the table and climbed up onto it. They spent the next ten minutes going through the clothes that Connor had bought at the store a few blocks away. Connor silently thanked God that Murphy had the presence of mind to check what size clothes Mary had been wearing when they found or else he wouldn't bought clothes that were way too big. He also nearly shouted in glee when they had found out that Mary was potty trained. Changing diapers was not something that Connor had ever wanted to do.

At the sight of the bright yellow dress that frilled out at the bottom and had poofy sleeves Mary's face had scrunched up in immediate distaste. A similar look had immediately followed on Murphy's face. Connor had barely resisted the urge to flip Murphy off. He had really liked that dress. It was the only one in the entire store that he thought was appropriate for a little girl to wear. Some of the clothes that they made for kids now of days made Connor want to go and beat the living shit out of the designers. There was no way in hell any kid of his would ever be allowed to wear clothes that looked like a hooker in training.

It wasn't until Murphy had Connor had been silently picking up the mess in their loft that night that Connor's thoughts from earlier that day hit him. Connor sneaked a small look over at Mary who had fallen asleep on Murphy's mattress, her eyes closing almost the same instant she laid down. Picking up an over turned chair Connor stopped and looked over at Murphy, who had washed the makeup off after Connor kept making fun of him, and sighed "We can't keep her around here for forever."

"I know" Murphy said back still not stopping in his task of collecting papers off the floor.

"We're gonna have ta find a stable place for her."

"I know" Murphy answered back his voice as bit tart but his movements never stilled.

"It's not safe for her here."

"I fucking know" Murphy shouted throwing down the stack of paper he had collected in his arms. His eyes immediately went over to where Mary lay on his mattress, Murphy didn't let out his breath until a soft snore came out of her mouth.

Connor let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding and looked at Murphy through the dim light "I think we should leave."

"Whatdya mean leave? Leave Mary?" Murphy was seething, the vein in his neck pulsed as bit down hard and his fist were clenched at his side, his knuckles turning white.

"I mean leave Boston" Connor hurriedly said before Murphy blew up on him. "After we take care of these guys that are after Mary. We could take her somewhere nice…somewhere where she doesn't have to worry about all this crime and horror going on. Someplace where she can grow up like a normal kid."

"Whatdya saying?" Murphy asked cautiously like Connor was trying to pull some kind of joke on him.

"I'm sayin' that we should take care of those bastards that are trying to get Mary…and split. Move somewhere where we could live…you know like a family and shit."

"Fuck" Murphy breathed "You want to become all domesticated and shit?"

"Yeah" Connor said back, he could feel heat burning the back of his neck as the shit eating grin spread from ear to ear across Murphy's face.

The smile faltered for a second as Murphy thought "That means…" Murphy said looking between Connor and Mary. "That one of us has to be the mom."

"Fuck that" Connor snarled.

"Hey if you want to be a family and shit there has to be a mom and dad. And since I have the bigger dick I get to be the dad."

"What the fuck ever" Connor nearly yelled back "there ain't no way in hell I'm bein' the mom and there ain't no way you got the bigger dick."

"Keep telling yourself that Connor" Murphy sang back as he bent over to pick up the papers he had thrown down. He was distracted enough that he didn't see Connor coming at him until he was flat on his back, on the ground, papers flying through the air and Connor pinning him down with his legs around his waist.

It took over an hour for Connor to make Murphy tap out of their fight and another hour to pick up the mess that they had made worse by their fighting. By time they had gotten to sleep it the sun was already starting to come up. Neither one of them had noticed the small set of green eyes watching them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Kiss the Pony

**Fandom**: Boondock Saints

**Pairings:** Murphy/Connor

**Rating:** R

**Warnings**: Violence, swearing, angst, twincest, incest, kid!fic

**Summary:** During one of their hits the McManus brothers discover a three old girl hiding under a bed. After learning that the girl is on a hit list, an order from the very man they had just murdered, they take the girl with them. But they soon discover that someone else wants this girl dead and they are far more dangerous than the McManus brothers could've possibly imagined. Along the way the very fabric of their relationship is tested and the brothers discover something that had been lurking at edge of their vision for years.

**AN:** Sorry it has taken me so long to post…RL and other stories have been absorbing all my attention. I'll try to post the next chapter a bit sooner than I did this one, I promise.

Sighing Murphy ran a hand down his face, in his other hand was a small paper cup of coffee. Leaning back in his chair he looked over at Connor who looked equally frustrated at their inability to get any clues as who the head boss of the organization, that wanted Mary dead, was.

Over the years they had learned there was always someone bigger, someone more important, a marionette being controlled by a puppet master who is really just a puppet in themselves. It was a conundrum that continued on and on until it made your head spin.

The guy they had whacked when they found Mary was as high ranking as they came. He was the last person that was seen before the darkness engulfed you and the true master came out and struck you down before you had a chance to steal a simple glance around. They had killed a very powerful guy and the fact that no one was coming after them, to be honest, terrified Murphy much more than it did to Connor. In reality they shouldn't of had even made it out of the house let alone be alive in their home days after the hit. But they were and each day they stayed alive drove home the point that whoever they were really dealing with was one scary ass mother fucker.

"We're not getting anywhere with all this second hand shit." Connor thrust the papers that they had stolen, from the dead guys' office, across the table and scrubbed his hands down his face. It looked as if he was trying to wipe away the years, trying to wipe away the stress and the cracks in their souls that came more and more evident after every life they snuffed out.

Instead of agreeing with him Murphy gave Connor a pointed look, reprimanding him silently for his bad langue around Mary. Who was sitting on the Murphy's bed; the crayons that they had bought for her were laid out on the bed, arranged neatly in alphabetical order.

Huffing a small "sorry" Connor glanced over at Mary who was acting like she wasn't listening to them. Murphy knew different though, she was always listening; even if she was asleep she was listening. He had found that out the other day when he and Connor had a conversation about whether or not Mary would like a backyard to play in. When she had said, in a supposed dead sleep, that she wanted enough room for the pony she wanted for her next birthday. It had scared the crap out of Connor and surprised Murphy, who knew that little kids were such good listeners. Connor and he had never that good at listening when they were young; sure they listened after their mother had given them a few good whacks to the side of the head. But never had they still been listening in on people's conversation after they were asleep; they had hard enough time paying attention when they were awake.

"We can't get any fu…" Connor stopped himself from cussing just barely. Stealing a glance at Mary, who was still pretending to ignore them, he continued. "I mean we can't get any good intel off these papers. They're useless. They planted were there to lead the cops away from what was really going on, just in case the place got raided. These guys are good, no better than good they're like the fucking Mafia wizarding geniuses."

"Connor" Murphy said impatiently and jerked his head towards Mary who was still sitting on the bed coloring.

"Sorry" Connor mumbled again before burying his head in his hands. "It's just that we're going to need a lot better information then this if we're going to get these guys before they get us…" Connor paused his eyes straying over to the bed again "…or worse. Mary."

"I don't know we're just…" Murphy's consolation of Connor was interrupted by Mary setting her drawing down the table.

"Look what I drew" She announced proudly beaming back and forth between Connor and Murphy. Her drawing covered up the sheet that had her name written in red ink.

"That's nice sweetie…but how about you" Connor started only to get cut off by Mary's explanation of the picture.

"This is me" she said pointing to a small girl that was drawn in pink crayon.

"That's…" Connor began but he was once again cut off by Mary who just plowed on with her explanation

"And this is daddy" she said pointing to a man drawn in green crayon, a pool of green was drawn next to his head. "This is mommy" her tiny finger pointed to a woman drawn in purple. Her voice momentarily dropped and her finger lingered over the purple figure, a pool of purple was next to her chest. But she collected herself quickly; she kept on going like the fact that her parents were dead didn't bother her. "And is the bad man." The man Mary pointed to was drawn in red; there was also a pool of red off to the side of him, in the same exact spot that Connor and Murphy had shot him.

"He's dead" Mary whispered her voice grave and sullen as she looked at Connor then over at Murphy "you guys saved me."

Murphy couldn't tear his eyes away from Mary, her small frame sagged with a sadness that should never touch a three year old. The way Mary was feeling was something no child should ever go through. It tore at Murphy's chest to know that there was nothing he could to stop Mary's pain. Out of the corner of his eye Murphy could see Connor reach over and point to two black figures that were next to the bad guy drawn in red.

"Who are these guys?" Connor asked softly, his hand shook a bit as he touched the black figures. His face was stone; shut off and locked down, but it couldn't fool Murphy he knew what his brother was feeling. He knew that when Connor looked his best, that when he was calm and collected that he was really on the edge of falling apart.

"They're the really bad guys." Mary whispered her eyes going round like saucers as she stared at the figures. Neither one of them had pools of liquid next to them. "When they came to our house Daddy made me hide. But I heard them. I heard them talking when I was not supposed to."

Murphy looked over at Connor who was staring intently at the two black figures. He was thinking the same thing Murphy was thinking. The two figures that Mary had drawn in black crayon were the head honchos. They were the people who held all the strings off all the puppets. They pulled and tugged playing everyone as they stayed hidden deep within the shadows. And Mary knew who they were and worse yet they knew who Mary was.

This was bad, this was very very bad. Murphy could feel a small stab of panic start to work its way through him. Mary's dad had been in deep with the local Mafia, and not just the local mafia but with the guys that controlled it all. Mary's dad was engaged with some of the deadliest people in the United States not to mention the city of Boston. And these men knew exactly who Mary was, what she looked like, and who she was with.

They knew who she was with, and they doubt knew where he and Connor lived. His head started to swim over the fact that it had been days since they had first taken Mary into their home and they were still alive. There was no way in hell these men would just let Mary go, there was no way they were going to let her live. She knows who they are, she's seen them with her dad, she's seen them murder her dad.

Mary looked up at Murphy as she could read what was going on inside his head. "Daddy always told me to never look at them. I wasn't supposed to know what their faces looked like."

"But you do?" Connor whispered his eyes kept flickering back to Murphy's; the same train of thought was plowing through Murphy's head that was surging around inside Connor's.

"Mmm hmm" Nodding Mary picked up the paper. Studying it for a second she crumbled it up and shoved it into her mouth. "There must be no evidence left to tie back to me." She said around a mouthful of paper, her tone was dark, mimicking someone she heard speak those words. "We must erase all ties."

Murphy felt sick to his stomach as he watched Mary swallow the paper, he had a vague notion of telling her not to eat paper because the ink could be toxic. The little three year old girl that stood before him clad in a pink dress and her hair pulled back in a ponytail knew she was not supposed to be alive. The little girl whose only thoughts should be of toys and drawing and loving her parents knew that there was people that wanted her dead and that those same people had killed her parents.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Kiss the Pony

**Fandom:** Boondock Saints

**Pairings:** Murphy/Connor

**Rating:** R

**Warnings:** There be violence in this chapter. Not much but enough to warrant a warning. Also kid!fic, twincest, incest.

**Summary:** During one of their hits the McManus brothers discover a three old girl hiding under a bed. After learning that the girl is on a hit list, an order from the very man they had just murdered, they take the girl with them. But they soon discover that someone else wants this girl dead and they are far more dangerous than the McManus brothers could've possibly imagined. Along the way the very fabric of their relationship is tested and the brothers discover something that had been lurking at edge of their vision for years.

**AN:** Gahhh my mom is so mean to me. She played a horrible prank on me. She freaking put laxatives in the brownies she made for me! What kind of sick mom does that to their kid? Well apparently my mom does. When I confronted her all she did was laugh and tell me to stay close to the toilet. So freaking glad I don't have to work today.

"I hate my life…I swear I was sent to this Earth for the sole purpose of being tortured." Connor mumbled to himself. His arms were crossed against this chest and he was staring into the mirror Murphy had installed onto the wall.

"Oh stop being such a baby" Murphy said slapping him across the back of his head "you looking fucking good."

"Daddy" Mary said in a mock shocked voice as she stared wide eyed up at Murphy, who was actually fucking blushing. Connor couldn't help but laugh, after the near hundred times Murphy had yelled at him to control his langue he goes and drops the F bomb right in front of the kid.

Not that it really mattered, Mary was starting to cuss just as much as he and Murphy did. Murphy fretted over it and told Mary that it was bad to cuss. But honestly Connor just thought it was hilarious, she was going to learn how to cuss why not learn it now?

Connor caught the way Murphy's eyes lit up when Mary called him daddy, she had started doing that a few weeks ago. Murphy had come back from a hit covered in blood, mostly his and Mary had freaked out. But not in the way a normal kid would do. Instead she had grabbed Murphy by the hand and pulled him into the kitchen, Murphy too dazed to do anything else had followed along. He had been taking a shower when Murphy had stumbled into the loft. And by time he had gotten the shower turned off and a pair of jeans thrown on Mary had Murphy sitting at a chair and she had a wash cloth washing the blood away from a bullet wound.

Sitting on the table was gauze and a bottle of Betadine, Mary had been halfway through cleaning the wound before Connor had gotten to them. A surge of pride and shock had gone through Connor at seeing Mary caring for Murphy's wound. They had never taught her that, if they had ever come back injured from a hit they would make Mary go to the other side of the room and color while they cleaned the wound quickly; making sure that Mary was not looking. Blood freaked Mary out, or so Connor and Murphy had thought. So however Mary had learned to clean a wound it was most certainly not from Connor and Murphy.

Connor had removed Mary from the Murphy's side and told her to go color, which she had not done, she had just stood there and handed him more wash cloths and the tweezers to pull the bullet shard out of Murphy's arm. When Murphy had come out of his daze he had been pissed that Connor had let Mary help. And since then Mary had clung to him like he was going to disappear. She followed him around like a little lost duck, crawled into his bed during the night, and would sit by the door the entire he was gone.

After that incident Mary had taken to calling Murphy daddy. Murphy never corrected her, never told her that her dad was dead and that he was a poor substitute for her dad. Instead each time she had called him that he had gotten a little spark in his face. A small glimmer of happiness that stood out in the dark shit storm that had become their lives.

"Yeah Murphy" Connor said reaching back and slapping his brother in the face. An unlit cigarette hung out of Connor's mouth. They had agreed on not smoking inside, but he couldn't quite stop the habit of having a cigarette in his mouth. "Whatch yer mouth."

Glaring at Connor through the mirror Murphy tugged roughly on the clump of hair he was holding onto. Connor barely suppressed cussing at Murphy. And Murphy sensing that smirked at him.

Beside them Mary giggled "We should color that one pink" she said as she held up a spray can of pink hair color.

"Oh come on…seriously" Connor whined as he slouched lower in his seat.

"Don't be so grouchy Connor" Mary waggled her small finger at her and popped the top off of the spray can. Connor mumbled under his breath as Murphy took the pink can from Mary and started spraying a good size chunk of his hair pink.

Connor had found it increasingly harder to say no to Mary. If she wanted a piggy back ride around the loft all she had to do was stick her bottom lip out and he was suckered in. If she wanted a new dress she widened her eyes a bit turned down the corners of her mouth and he'd be in the store down the street buying multiple dresses. New coloring books a slight turn of her head to the left. A soda pop her head dipped low while she looked at him through her eyelashes. Wanted to sleep in his bed, a kiss to the cheek. He was one hundred percent totally unable to say no to Mary.

The only time he ever said no, only time he had to tell her no, the only time Murphy had to tell her no was if she asked to go outside. It had been over three months since they had rescued Mary from the Mob bosses house and she had only gone outside three times. The first time is when they had brought her to their loft, crying and shaking and clinging onto Murphy.

The second time was a few days later, she had snuck out during the night. Murphy nearly had a massive stroke when he woke up and found her spot on his bed empty. She had made it all the way down to the end of the block before they had caught up to her. Connor had carried her back as she clung to them and told them she didn't want them to die so she left. Connor couldn't remember a time he had been more terrified.

The third time had been a few days ago, Mary had finally gotten tired of being cooped up in the loft. She had wanted to go outside and play, wanted to go to the playground and play with other children. She wanted to see the sunshine that wasn't contaminated by grime covered windows. She had thrown a fit, not just any fit but it could be easily classified as the fit of the century. She had gone on a rampage and tried to destroy everything in her site. And they had just sat by and watched it happen. After she had worn herself out and passed out on the floor Connor had gone over and scooped her up and put her in the small pink bed they bought for her.

That night Murphy and had slid into Connor's bed face pressed towards Connors whispering, hoping that Mary couldn't hear them. "She needs a normal life Connor, this shit we got going on ain't healthy for her."

"What do you want to do?" Connor had asked, he hadn't admitted it but it chest had tightened up a bit as he thought what Murphy's words meant. If they meant that Murphy wanted to give Mary up, take her to someone that could probably all in likely deal with this better, he wasn't sure if he could go along with it.

"We have to get this taken care of…we've barely made any progress just a few low level thugs" Murphy whispered his breath ghosting over Connor's face and lips.

Connor couldn't help the small smile that tugged up the corners of his mouth "We'll get this shit sorted."

"Good" Murphy said as his eyes slid shut and he wiggled closer.

They had been more intent on watching Mary after that, making sure she wasn't creeping towards the front door.

He was pretty sure that Murphy got the bright orange spray on his face on purpose, the fact that his entire left cheek and part of his bare shoulders and chest was painted a violent shade of orange proved it. And if that didn't the fact that Murphy was laughing so hard that tears were squeezing out of his eyes did.

"You're dead" Connor growled as he bound out of his chair and tackled Murphy to the ground. Behind him Connor could hear Mary giggle with delight as she watched as Connor pinned Murphy to the ground and rubbed his multi-colored hair all over Murphy's face effectively painting it into a smeared and messed up rainbow.

"Daddy's pretty" Mary yelled as she leapt onto Connor's back her long hair tickling his back as she wrapped her legs around Connor's back. "Connor is a pony" Mary yelled with delight as she kicked Connor in the rib cage.

From beneath him Murphy laughed and wiggled his way out "That's right Connor is the pony" Murphy said as he jumped up and scooped Mary off of Connor. Mary's slight weight was replaced by Murphy's entire body mass, plus Mary's weight, slamming into his back as Murphy jumped rather then sat on Connors's back.

Being between the floor and Murphy's body weight was not a pleasant thing, his chest and ribs hurt from the rough collision with the floor. But the pain was temporally forgotten when Mary's giggles reached his ears.

"Daddy killed the pony" Mary giggled as she bounced in Murphy's lap.

"The pony is about to kill daddy" Connor huffed out, earning him a laugh from both Mary and Murphy.

As Connor lay beneath Murphy a brief flash of what had happened three days ago flashed through his head. It was quick but it sucked the air out of his lungs and the laugh in his throat died. It was quick enough that Murphy noticed his stilling body and slid off so he was sitting beside Connor his back pressed against Connor's side.

They had gotten their first big break in months, the personal assistant to the guy that they were looking for to be exact. They had figured out where he lived and went to his place while Mary was asleep, the doors locked tight, windows locked and metal bars jammed in sideways making it impossible to open the window.

When they got there, they had been ambushed, the assistant had known that they were coming and had knocked Murphy and Connor unconscious the moment they walked into the door. They had woken up slumped over tied to each other.

Murphy had jerked against him, even without seeing his face Connor knew his eyes were wide and frightened. And he knew what exactly Murphy was thinking "Mary" he whispered beneath his breath. Connor could feel Murphy's head jerk around desperately trying to see if Mary was anywhere was in site.

Connor had gritted his teeth and searched the apartment praying that he wouldn't find the familiar mop of curly brown hair anywhere in sight. A coat thrown over the side of the couch had out of the corner of his eye looked exactly like Mary's hair and full blown panic and burst through Connor's chest. Every nerve ending was on fire and it felt like his heart was beating so fast that it was going to explode or just simply stop beating.

"At last I can put a face to the famous McManus brothers" a heavy accented Italian voice had drawled out from somewhere off to the left.

The owner of the voice had slowly walked into view and Connor had a sudden and violent urge to stab the knife attached to his ankle home in the guys jugular. If he had hurt Mary or Murphy in way at all he would do everything in his power to make sure that fat bastard die a slow and horrendously painful death.

"You're not exactly what I was expecting" it was the assistant, he was dressed in fancy suit, his hair slicked back and his tiny beady eyes gleamed in the minimal light. "You two have given us quite a bit grief over the last two months." As he walked closer Connor could sense Murphy tense up, he was coiled up with anger and it was taking everything in his power not to start cussing and threatening the guy.

"But now all of that is over…after tonight we no longer have to worry. We will kill you then bring Mary to our boss and all will be done."

Connor lay on the ground with Murphy beside him, Mary sitting on Murphy's lap both staring at him and he shuddered. The other night was the most ruthless he had ever been. Just the thought of any one of those slimy arrogant bastard laying a finger on Mary or Murphy had snapped something inside him he hadn't know had been there.

They didn't stand a chance, Connor had quickly maneuvered himself and grabbed his knife, the idiotic assholes hadn't bothered checking them thoroughly for weapons, too sure and confident in their ability to keep him and Murphy contained. The ropes were slit and he was on his feet before the other guys in the room had a chance to react.

He remembered the blood the most, they had used before because they weren't personal, guns allowed them to shoot and kill without getting close. But with a knife it was different, every single slash, cut, and stab felt like a small piece of relief. Each person that fell to the ground was one less person that in the end could hurt Murphy or worse Mary.

A chilling emptiness had filled Connor as he slide home his blade into the assistants throat. It was only when Murphy had grabbed his shoulder, fingers bloody and warm on his skin that Connor had felt anything. The sure hand on Connor's shoulder had grounded home and brought him slamming back into reality.

They had doused the house with lighter fluid and set it on fire, knowing there was no way they could get rid of all their finger prints, but not before grabbing the assistants brief case and some papers off his desk.

"Connor" Murphy said softly his hand on Connor's shoulder in an eerily similarity from the other night. When they had come back to the loft Mary had thankfully been asleep still and unharmed. They had quickly showered shoved their bloody clothes into garbage bags before grabbing what clothes and stuff they needed and they had split. Left behind the loft that had been their home for the last couple of years, grabbed Mary and ran to some off the beaten path rundown motel.

"I'm fine" Connor said as he rolled over onto his back. Mary was staring at him with something he couldn't recognize in her eyes, something that seemed too adult for a three year old.

"Kiss the pony!" Mary shouted out of nowhere as she jumped out of Murphy's lap.

"What?" Connor and Murphy had both asked at the same time, Connor was sure they looked like cartoons both of their eyes wide in shock and mouths hanging open.

"Daddy kiss the pony" Mary said again a grin forming on her face as she beamed at the two of them.

"Mary that isn't…" Murphy started but Mary cut him off.

"Daddy loves the pony…pony loves daddy…so kiss!" Mary demanded. Murphy started protesting again but Mary cut him off with a stare that would turn any hardened criminal into goo.

Murphy mumbled something under his breath and leaned over and pressed a kiss against Connor's forehead. The sensation of Murphy's lips on his forehead snapped him out of the funk he had been in and he reached up cupping the back of Murphy's neck and pulled him down pressing his lips against Murphy's. In the distance Connor could hear Mary's footsteps walking away as Murphy pressed into the kiss.


End file.
